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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bay · rush · chair · dip · mate · land · cold · face

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. mate — a partner
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — to point toward
  5. cold — an illness
  6. dip — to sink
  7. mate — a friend
  8. rush — hurry
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. face — part of the head
  16. land — ground
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. land — to come down
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. land — a country
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. mate — to breed
  23. chair — a leader
  24. bay — to keep at bay

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com